The vast majority of the conversations I engage in center the work of Black and brown authors. I think centering our work is an important element of shifting important conversations in the right direction. However, I also think there it is important to note that part that privilege can play in bringing change. And based on the incredible engagement my essay on the failures of white dystopian authors, I suspect a lot of you agree. But I don't want to leave the conversation there. Because I think it's hopeless. I think there is a way for white authors (and authors who hold different types of privilege) to engage in these conversations in a healthy, and helpful, way. Which is why I am writing this follow up essay. To share some insight that might help to refocus how many of you engage in these conversations as writers.

About a year ago, I came across an author who was promoting her upcoming dragon fantasy. She [a white woman] had a fairly large following and was very proud of the story she had written. I don't remember the exact premise, but what I do remember still haunts me. Because, as wild as this sounds, she had every intention of including residential schools in her book as a way to demonstrate the inherent racism in her fantasy world.

Yeah... as you can imagine, I was not the only person on BookTok who objected loudly. But what shocked me were the number of people standing up for her and asking why white people aren't allowed to write about oppression. After all, it effects them too, right?

Well, yes... but as I said in my last essay, it is important that our approach to oppression is honest. And I'm sorry, white people, but presenting yourselves as the primary victims of racism, colonization, imperialism...or ya know---any system of oppression--is just not honest. You can experience oppression, but at the core, there is always someone else who is being targetted. And our conversations need to reflect that.

But does that mean I think you shouldn't write about real-world oppression? No, actually. But let's talk about what that can look like._ _

HOW TO BE HONEST IN YOUR WRITING

There are four questions I encourage every writer to ask themselves as they approach their projects:

• What real-world systems of oppression am I centering in this story?
• Who are the primary victims of that real-world system of oppression?
• How do those real-world victims see my identity in relation to their oppression?
• How can I be honest about all of these truths without exploiting or speaking for the people I am writing about?

If we apply this process to The Handmaid's Tale (The example we explored in the last essay), it would drastically change the story. But not in the ways a lot of you probably assume. Based on some of the comments I received when I talked about this on TikTok, I think that people are hearing me say that only Black women suffer under Patriarchy. Absolutely not. My commentary was never about erasing the suffering of any women. In fact, my conversation wasn't about the Patriarchy at all. It was the erasure of Black women. (Because if you haven't caught on, all of these systems are interconnected).

Many of you saw my objections and assumed I wanted a Black main character, when the entire time, I just wanted Ofred to not be the main character.

The story, as it's told now, follows a woman who is at the very harshest level of oppression in their society. And it is through her eyes that we are looking at a dystopian presentation of how horrific the Patriarchy can be. But as I pointed out in my last essay, that dystopian presentation is actually just a look at what it has looked like for Black and brown women throughout history. And for that reason, the story ends up being as racist as it is helpful. The author had to choose between erasing Black and brown women or speaking for them, and neither of those choices was ever going to end in an honest story.

But she could have avoided that dilemma by just telling the story through Serena's eyes. Serena is a victim in this story. She is the wife of one of the men who has overthrown the government and instilled a right-wing christian nationalist society where women have been beaten down into nothing and rich white men are at the center of everything. She has been robbed of her value, her future, her ability to even read or think for herself. She is a victim. And yet, her victimhood will always exist alongside her complicity in Ofred's oppression. Making her the protagonist would have centered Ofred's pain while also telling the story from a perspective the author is capable of stepping into.

That is a story that Margarett could have told honestly.

One of the best things you can do for yourself as a writer is to look at the story you want to tell and to ask yourself which perspective is the most honest for you to speak from. And that is not to say that you can only write from your identity. Because it does matter what story you are trying to tell. It matters what systems of oppression your story is addressing, what identieis you hold, who your story will represent and speak to. It all matters. But at the core of it, what matters most is that the story you are telling is honest.

A few days ago, an author--a white man--reached out to me and asked if i would help promote his story. Which is perfectly fine. I welcome authors reaching out and asking to collaborate with me. I love to work directly with authors.... only, his story was about a 15th century Conquistidor who has fallen in love with a young Aztek girl and is slowly learning just how evil colonization is.

And to make matters worse.... guess the title for me.

Did you guess Letters to a Savage? I'm gonna assume you didn't, because... ewww.

Of course, I turned it down. But I have been thinking about it ever since. Because he did attempt to do what I'm talking about. He saw something horrible in the world and tried to write about it from an honest perspective...but he forgot the very last question on my list. And it is the question that I think is perhaps the most important for you to wrestle with as an author:

How can I be honest about all of these truths without exploiting or speaking for the people I am writing about?

Writing is not an easy task. Especially when you are writing from a position of privilege and attempting to do so without harming people. I have so much love in my heart for the authors who are trying to change the world with their pens. And I hope that the insight I shared in this essay will be an asset to you as you continue in this fight.

No matter what privileges you hold, I don't want you to step out of the fight. I just want you to fight honestly.

My encouragement to you is to employ the questions I offered here. And don't just ask them. Wrestle over them. Be sure that you know the answers. And if you are telling stories where someone else is more directly impacted by the harm you are fighting against, hire people from that community to help you fix your perspective. I assure you it will be worth the money to not put out a book that hurts people.

In the meantime, would you find it helpful for me to dive into different books and to break down how I think they accomplished (and failed at) this type of honesty?

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